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Monday, 20 August 2018

8-YEAR OLD RAPED AND MURDERED IN SOUTH AFRICA

This innocent eight-year-old, Vutlhari Sithole, had her
innocence stripped away from her by a family friend, who allegedly pulled her away from
a playground at Lehae with a promise of R10 (about N250).

The culprit has been identified to be one of her
grandfather's colleague. After a 12-hour search, Vutlhari's grandfather,
Zwelakhe Nukeri, found the body of the young child in the veld along the
Highway.

“I saw that she was bashed in the head several times. Her neck was
bruised because the guy strangled her. She was in a small ditch on the other
side of the Golden Highway,” said Nukeri.

“Her pants were pulled down to her knees and you could see that she was
fighting for her life because she also had bruises all over her body,” said an
emotional Nukeri.

He said Vutlhari disappeared after she told her grandmother
that she was going to play at a park near their house.

Her grandmother, Evodia Nukeri, grew concerned when she
noticed that she had not returned after dark.

“We started a search party and even went into the veld nearby and came
across two children who said they saw the suspect pulling a dustbin to the
dumping site,” she said.

“I saw the suspect moments after and I asked him if he saw Vutlhari but
he didn’t respond, instead he just walked away.

“I paid very little attention to his reaction. I was in a frantic
state. We haven’t seen him (the suspect) since Friday night.”

Police spokesperson Captain Mpande Khoza, who confirmed the
incident, said the 27-year-old suspect was being sought for Vutlhari’s rape and
murder.